Purdy: Idling San Jose Sharks need to add another gear (goal scorer)

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart (23) is checked by San Jose Sharks left wing Patrick Marleau (12) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Detroit, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The Sharks lost again Sunday, lost for the sixth time in their past eight games. But do not come to the wrong conclusion.

The Sharks are not in trouble. The Sharks are in need.

They need an oomph injection.

They need a player who could have scored a third goal for them Sunday, a goal that would have tied Detroit in regulation and sent the game into overtime, instead of forcing the Sharks to settle for a spirited 3-2 defeat.

They need a forward who can play on the top two lines and provide more offensive vigor to a team that actually played pretty well defensively against the Red Wings.

They need another veteran presence that can produce more consistency, so that the Sharks don't score five or six goals some nights and only one or two in other games (including the past two).

They need a home game right now in the worst way but must gut it out for four more games on their absurdly long nine-game trip, the Milos Raonic Magical Mystery Tour -- so named because the lengthy journey is the annual fallout from Raonic and other tennis stars occupying HP Pavilion for the weeklong SAP Open. The Sharks must hate February.

They need to nevertheless pause and ponder the following fact, which might shock some fans: The Sharks' current record (31-19-7) is actually better than it was after 57 games last season (30-21-6) when our beloved Los Tiburones went on to finish with the Western Conference's second-best record. That's another reason the current Sharks slump can't be called a crisis.

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They need to thank their lucky teal stars, however, that they are playing in the flaccid and underperforming Pacific Division. This has allowed the Sharks to stay in first place and hold onto the third playoff seed. Their closest divisional pursuers are Phoenix and Los Angeles, which have their own problems and have allowed the Sharks room to breathe.

They need to realize, however, that with six of their final 13 games this season scheduled against the Coyotes or Kings, the slump must be rectified long before those six games come around and open the door for a potential Phoenix or Los Angeles surge to a Pacific title.

All of which is to say that, with the NHL trade deadline peeking over the Feb. 27 horizon, the Sharks would appear to be really rolling the dice if they stand still and do nothing.

But it might happen. Making no move might be more likely than making any move. So be prepared to bite fingernails for the next six weeks.

There is no secret wish list for the Sharks. The names are out there, the possible acquisitions and usual suspects who could add some juice to the roster: Teemu Selanne, Ryan Smyth, Jarome Iginla, Tuomo Ruutu, and especially Rick Nash.

But here's the bad news: None of those players may be available to be picked up in a reasonable deal, or even available at all. Things seem to be breaking that way.

So. The Sharks may stick with what they have. They may count on the additional top-six forward juice coming from a player already on the roster. They may count on hamstring-injured Marty Havlat to return at full speed (reports are positive about his rehab) or count on recent rookie call-up Tommy Wingels to have an impact along the lines of Logan Couture's impact in the final weeks of the 2010-11 season.

It will be a risk. A severe, non-ideal, criticism-bringing risk. But a risk the Sharks and general manager Doug Wilson are prepared to take.

A month ago, some of those wish-list names seemed quite get-able. Selanne, the ageless Anaheim winger and former Shark, would have been an energetic fit. But the Ducks apparently think they're still in the playoff hunt and have sent out signals Selanne is off the block. Ruutu of Carolina was solidly in the rumor stream until suffering an "upper-body" injury that may keep him out as long as a month.

Nash, the All-Star Columbus winger, was a nice thought. And the Columbus Dispatch has reported the Sharks are among the teams on Nash's list of acceptable trade destinations. But there are two roadblocks.

The first is, Columbus probably would want Couture or Joe Pavelski in return, a non-starter with Wilson. The other roadblock is Nash's contract averages $7.8 million annually through 2018, too rich for the Sharks' salary cap limitations. Plus, it would give Nash a larger cap figure than Joe Thornton. And there is at least an unofficial franchise dictum that no Sharks player should make more money than Thornton.

Wilson will tell you that since last summer, he has acquired 10 new players for the Sharks roster, including last week's deal for helpful third-line forward Dominic Moore from Tampa Bay. But is that enough? Does that fill the added-oomph quotient?